Father Coughlin in the periodical press : a content analysis and historical perspective

This study examines the coverage of Father Coughlin, the Detroit radio priest and political activist, in selected periodicals during the years 1931-1942. The population for the study was a census of articles on Coughlin appearing in Literary Digest, The Nation, New Republic, Newsweek, Time, Christian Century, and Commonweal. These periodicals were grouped into journals of opinion and commentary, weeklies, and religious publications.

A multivariable content analysis of the 99 articles in the census provided two types of data. First, each assertion about Coughlin was coded for direction (negative assertions, neutral assertions, positive assertions). The articles were then content analyzed for the frequency of references to five of the major themes of Coughlin's public career: anti-Semitism, pro-Nazism, pro-Fascism, demagoguery and rabble rousing, and questionable veracity.

The data were analyzed by periodical type, by periodical, over time, and by authorship. Significant differences in direction were found among the three groups of periodicals and among several of the periodicals within the groups. Trend analysis of the direction data showed no surprising results--positive assertions about Coughlin decreased over time while negative assertions increased over time. No significant difference in direction was found between signed and bylined articles and unsigned articles.

The analysis of major themes best lent itself to trend analysis. References to major themes by year were related to events in Coughlin's public career. The analysis of major themes by periodical type and authorship produced no significant difference.

The second part of the study was perspective on the life and career of Father Coughlin, compiled from the periodical record, secondary sources, and interviews with persons who knew the priest. These inter-views were conducted in Detroit and Hamilton, Ontario during March 1982. The emphasis of the historical perspective is on Coughlin's later years. After 1942 the silenced rabble-rouser was confined to his Shrine of the Little Flower, where he served as pastor until his retirement in 1966.

Although partly in control of the circumstances that led to his national prominence, Coughlin's latent desire for power was manifested by the unexpected radio following resulting from his fiery oratory. The content analysis confirms the general notion that the periodical press was highly critical of Coughlin. The thesis concludes that a present-day demagogue would be met with similar hostility from the press. Even if times become as desperate as those of the Great Depression, today's fragmented broadcast marketplace would severely hamper the chances of a broadcast-based demagogue attaining a mass audience the magnitude of Coughlin's.